I feel Book 2: Spirits is overdue for a collective reappraisal.
Too many seem to just have seen it once years back and let their negative takes sit without reconsideration or just... get them from a YouTuber (say their name rhymes with... Milly), take their biased word for it and repeat the same script verbatim. I much respect when someone actually say to engage with the work. If nothing else, it feels less like I'm talking with a brick wall.
Obviously not everyone has to like it buuuuuuut I feel that too many take it for granted that the season is "bad" and follow the consensus too much since it's easier.
First hot take: losing the connection to the past lives wasn't the whole thing. The point is that she's lost Raava, the very thing that made the Avatar the Avatar. Her devastation isn't over her lost connections so much as failing to save her spirit half, the one constant companion to the Avatar for generations being lost in one battle. THAT is the emotional weight of it. It's not free of criticism but people could at least see what the show was getting at.
Also? Aang barely contacted his past lives outside of Roku. Kyoshi manifested herself through him once before a later callback. Yangchen and Kuruk. In the finale. I like Roku but only because he's basically Obi Wan to Aang's Luke and his own time as Avatar informed the events of Aang's journey.
So... losing the past lives was largely dramatic in that Korra was losing a piece of herself as the Avatar via Raava. Hell, one thing I liked about the Aang movie was how Aang's search for Sonam involved contacting new faces from times long past.
Second hot take: the Lion Turtles didn't give humans bending. THEY gave many humans the power to control the elements and from there, the power was refined into specific martial arts techniques.
Like some complain bending was made into a genetic ability. I'm sorry but then why couldn't Sokka just... learn to bend and went to take up swordfighting? Why couldn't Mai and Ty Lee just... learn to bend either, relying on non-bender martial arts to compensate or counter?
Third hot take: Raava and Vaatu aren't a departure from the East Asian inspirations of the series nor are they strictly "good and evil" so much as "order and chaos." MattCMG puts it well here:
But to not fall back on too many videos, I will also say that the show is still very much dripping in East Asian culture in every season as evident by the behind the scenes info that's currently out there. While the writers might mostly be from America, they have always put in the work when it comes to researching what they are dabbling in.
Third Hot Take: Unalaq: not such a great character yet a good antagonist
I mean, whether or not he’s on your Top Ten lists, people overlook how he definitely got shit done.
-He gain Korra’s trust by undermining her’s in her father and mentor, using secrets they kept from her.
-Said trust kept her from realizing his true colors until it was too late (I mean, it’s not like he was actually going “Mwahahaha” in front of her so much as being a stoic old fogie).
-Got her to open the southern portal with her trust and the north by way of holding Jinora hostage.
-Went toe to toe with the Avatar at her best and managed to fuse with Vaatu.
-Had an epic Kaiju fight with Korra. Like... HOLY F**K
Even if he wasn’t exactly fleshed out (I was bummed too), he was certainly no slouch when it came to this.
Fourth Hot Take: Korra as a spirit kaiju fit very well into Avatar as much as the Ocean Spirit and Aang going all Godzilla on Zhao's fleet. The mechanics behind it maaaaaybe could've been explained better but it's consistent with what we've had so far.
I'm sorry but Avatar has ALWAYS bounced between dumb but cool Anime shit and really deep stuff. You can like it or hate it but I feel too many hold Avatar up on a pedestal that, if you actually rewatch the show, you'd know it's good but not in the way one prop it up as.
Fifth Hot Take: The love triangle was... not my cup of tea but consistent with the characters we've had so far. I just would've had Asami be the one to bust Mako's chops on the boat for not letting Korra recall that they broke up. I do appreciate it in retrospect in how it informs Korra and Asami's love to come but I see where some spit and polish could've been applied.
I feel like the problem with this fandom is a severe case of putting the original at an impossible standard to reach, at not letting the world develop what ATLA establishes, at being so slavish to what's considered "canon." It's the same with the discourse surrounding Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender. There can be nothing new that might "contridict the lore" as the fandom sees it.
I could make a whole different case as to why The Legend of Korra's worldbuilding expands on what Avatar set up and makes sure that the franchise doesn't play it safe with a static world. I love they're going with an East Asian Mad Max for Seven Havens. They're not afraid to do the story they want rather than the story fans want. I want more The Last Jedis and faaaaar less The Rise of Skywalkers.
Give me something I might not like.
